


There is no meaning in this life but love

by Kit2000andAnna



Series: Leon and Claire's REUNION [1]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil (Movieverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Chance Meetings, Denial of Feelings, Dominance, F/M, Love, Love Confessions, Reunions, Romance, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 11:31:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17682632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kit2000andAnna/pseuds/Kit2000andAnna
Summary: "I'm here to take back what's mine," Kennedy held his gaze on her firmly, but she just smirked in return. "So what are you going to do now, Leon Scott Kennedy? Did you think that finding out about your hidden feelings I would jump in happiness?" This story is a prequel to "Watching You".





	There is no meaning in this life but love

**Author's Note:**

> A/N Hello everyone! We are back with our second Cleon fanfic! =) This one will be the prequel to “Watching You” and here we will know how Leon and Claire got married and how Chris reacted after hearing the news =)  
> We hope you will enjoy reading this story as much as we enjoyed writing it! Thank you very much for all your comments for “Watching You”. It means a lot to us, guys! We hope this fanfic will give you a good time and you will leave your reviews! *wink*

**THERE IS NO MEANING IN THIS LIFE BUT LOVE**

 

There was a party at the White House and lots of politicians and other important guests were invited. Leon and Ark were in the list too. They stood in the far end of the hall, drinking some whisky with ice and discussing how boring the event was. They reminded of Alexander Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin who had always had that listless look whenever he was invited to a ball.

There was nothing to do and Leon caught himself on a thought that he made a big mistake by coming to this party. He had more interesting things in his life to entertain himself than attending some boring event.

Ark, on the contrary, was enjoying himself. Maybe he drank too much whisky or maybe he really liked the boring atmosphere, but his mood got higher than it was several hours ago.

“You know, Leon, all those guys in tuxedos remind me of pompous turkeys. Just look at them,” Ark pointed to a random politician who was smiling at someone like an idiot. “Argh, what a disgusting view!” the brown-haired man pulled a face and drank his whisky in one gulp. “But the spirits are cool here!” he announced audibly, sending his friend a pleased smile. “Why don’t you drink some? There is nothing to do here after all, so let your brain have some relaxation. Who knows, maybe we will be able to find some hot political chick here, heh?”

“Shut up, Ark. It seems alcohol has attacked your common sense. You are babbling like the last drunkard. And I thought that you were a decent father to your children”.

“Oh common, Leon,” Ark rolled his eyes. “Our work is too dangerous and stressful, I need to chill out sometimes. And I advise you to follow my example, my friend. And besides,” the expression on the man’s face became serious and concentrated, “I _am_ a decent father to my children and I never give up on opportunity to find a good woman who would acknowledge my kids as her own.”

Kennedy just sighed in response, but the next moment he received an elbow in his ribs.

“Whoa! Look there!” Ark pointed his index finger to a crowd of men.

“I don’t see anything unusual, Ark,” Kennedy uttered. He was too tired to look around, but the other man didn’t give him a chance to even think about the boredom.

“Then you are absolutely blind, Leon. How can’t you see _her_?” Ark demanded, grabbing Leon’s neck and forcing him to look in the direction of his pointed finger.

Leon didn’t expect to be treated so roughly by his slightly drunken friend, but his gaze fell on the crowd of those men again. There was a woman in a pink knee-length dress that embraced her body like a second skin. She was standing in the middle of that little crowd of men. It seemed that they were enjoying her company so much that they even forgot where they were.

“Just look at her. She is such a beautiful and luxury woman. I’m ready to give up on my bachelor’s life just by looking at her,” Thompson spoke with admiration, there was not a single sign that he was drunken just some minutes ago. “I have to get to know who she is. Maybe she would become a perfect mother for my children!”

Leon was looking at the woman’s back, since she was facing one of those politicians. She indeed was beautiful. Her long mahogany hair flowed down her back freely. She had a fantastic body, judging by all the curves her dress accentuated.

“ _She is absolutely in my taste,_ ” Kennedy thought appraisingly.

Two friends stood in the corner of the hall like paralyzed. They couldn’t tear off their eyes from a mysterious woman in pink dress. She was talking to a famous politician and then they both started to laugh as if their conversation was one of some good old friends’. The man took her hand in his and kissed it favorably.  

The next moment a brown-haired woman walked to her and whispered something in her ear. Soon after that, they both left the hall. Leon recognized the other woman. It was Jill Valentine. A suspicion crept in his mind, somehow he wasn’t that sure anymore that he didn’t know the woman with those long mahogany hair. But Leon decided to keep his doubts to himself and not telling Ark about them. He didn’t know why it suddenly became distressing to listen to his exclamations of utter adoration towards her. Kennedy couldn’t understand what was happening to him. He decided to leave his friend and make sure that it was indeed _her_ in person.     

It wasn’t hard to find her among another crowd of men. He noticed lascivious glint in their eyes as if they were undressing the lady in their dirty fantasies. Leon’s blood started to boil in his veins and he didn’t know the reason why.

 

**OooooO**

Claire was standing at the balcony while watching the stars and humming some sweet melody. She was utterly glad that her cell-phone rang and she could escape that bedlam in the main hall. It was unbearable! Why did all those politicians follow her every step?  Yes, she was representing her brother at the party, but she wasn’t ready to answer their stupid questions that were far from a political theme. The girl promised herself to thank her dear brother physically when he returned from an urgent trip.

She didn’t notice someone’s approaching. Only when she heard a deep voice calling her by her name did she turn around to face the intruder who dared to ruin her moment of peace.

“Leon?” her eyes widened in surprise meeting his stern gaze.

It was _her_ , he knew it! His 6th sense didn’t betray him after all.

“What were you thinking, Claire, by seducing those politicians?” he started his accusations right from the threshold. “It was nauseating to look!”

Claire straitened herself and froze in bewilderment.

“What are you talking about? When did I seduce anyone?!” she objected, rising her voice.

“Don’t try to pretend that you are all innocent, dear. I saw everything!” Leon crossed his arms on his chest and arched his eyebrow reprehensibly. “They clustered to you like moths to a flame! And it seems that you were having fun by making those respectful men, who rule our country, look like a flock of sheep.”

Claire gritted her teeth in anger. She had never expected her dear friend would ever talk to her in such a rude manner! He humiliated her as if she was some whore! She didn’t recognize the Leon she had always knew in this mad man who was standing before her.

“So, this is how you think of me, Kennedy.” Claire uttered, offence could be clearly heard in her broken voice. “I suppose that you have always esteemed me that way…from the very first time we met. Yeah, of course it’s shameful to you to be a friend to such a dissolute woman as you consider me to be.” Claire sighed in tension. “I release you of this burden. We are not friends anymore…and judging by your daring statement, we have never been them in the first place.”

She was about to walk past him and hide her unshed tears from his sight, but his next words stopped her on her tracks.

“You are a wonderful actress, Claire. But I won’t fall a victim to your lies”.

Claire’s head snapped up as she threw him a glare full of hatred.

He was about to add some spicy comments but a sudden pain in his cheek stopped him from doing so. Leon pressed his palm to the burning skin. She had just slapped him, and her hand felt really heavy. The young man shifted his astonished gaze to her face and noticed the tears that were running down her cheeks. She was looking at him loathingly but there was something else in her sparkling blue eyes. Something, that caused his heart to tighten in pain.

“I don’t want to know you anymore!” she shouted in his face and swept past him, never turning back.

 

**OooooO**

The tears in her eyes were blurring her vision, but she managed to find a way to leave the White House. Claire went to the parking lot, sat on her motorbike and sped off. She didn’t care where she was riding. It didn’t matter anyway. She just wanted to soothe the pain in her dying heart. Leon’s words hurt her. They stabbed deep in her heart without a mercy. And she didn’t know why he had done that. She had never thought that her friend could treat her like that. Was she his friend in the first place? She didn’t know what to believe anymore.

Absorbed with those mournful thoughts, Claire didn’t notice some animal crossing the road. It was a miracle she didn’t run it over or else there could be two victims of her carelessness. She could get in an accident and she was sure that it would have been her sorrowful end.

Claire decided to stop in the middle of a highway. It was dangerous to ride a bike or any other vehicle in her current depressed state. She couldn’t control her raging and grieving emotions. Her best friend’s words hurt her so much, that she couldn’t even remember being so furious and hurt for the last time. And even in the past she had never let her mind and instincts go off.

Claire took her cell-phone out of her deco purse and dialed Jill’s number. She wasn’t that crazy to not informing her brother’s wife where she was. Jill was concerned, but Claire soothed her by telling the older woman that she had just went for a ride. The party was too boring so she decided to escape that event. Jill believed her lame story, or maybe she didn’t, but she told Claire to come back to the hotel when she was done.

Of course the red-haired beauty hated herself for lying to her family, but she hadn’t any right to make them worry about her.   

It was a beautiful starry night. Claire breathed in fresh air and started to pull off the road. She found a perfect place to think about her life. The girl parked her motorbike not far from her and lay on a soft cool grass, preparing to watch the stars on the black sky. The night was cold, and it wasn’t a surprise. It was the end of October after all, but even the chillness didn’t stop young Redfield from admiring the view above her. The stars looked gorgeous that night but they couldn’t distract her mind from the awful quarrel she had faced that evening. But Claire struggled to clear her thoughts, even if it made her hold back unwelcomed tears. After all the things Leon had told her at the party, she was sure that their friendship died and would never revive. It was not that she wanted it to after hearing how he really thought about her. But still, it was too painful to remember, and even if she tried to block her mind from recalling that encounter and its ill-fated end, her brain didn’t give up and kept on playing their conversation again and again in her head.

Some time had passed before Claire forgot herself in an anxious sleep.

 

**OooooO**

 

But who could predict that Leon would decide to repair the burnt bridge between their relations? He left the party not long after Claire had gone. He headed to the garage in a quick pace, not paying attention to Ark’s questions. Leon acknowledged his dreadful mistake. He didn’t understand what got into him! Why did he have to shower abuses up on Claire when it was those lustful politicians, who were staring at her in appropriate way? And not only staring! Leon heard some whispers among them in which they were freely discussing their perverted fantasies about her. It made him lose control of his emotions and his mind dimmed with rage. But her slap sobered him up at one, while her tears made him realize what he had really done. Leon hated himself right now. He was such a bastard for telling her all those terrible things! He longed to beg Claire for forgiveness. It was not her fault that she was born so beautiful and desired. Lots of men were losing their heads from her beauty and it made them go over the limits. And he wasn’t an exception himself.

Leon sat in his expensive sport-car and took out his cell-phone. He needed to find Claire and tell her that he didn’t mean what he had said to her. He put on the search of her whereabouts through a satellite and when he found out where she was, his jaw dropped to the floor. She was 70 km away from the city. It was beyond his understanding how fast she could get there. She had left just half an hour ago! Leon calculated in his mind the speed of her riding and slapped his face in astonishment. 140 km/h!

He had to find her as soon as possible before anything happened to that extreme girl!

He drove to the very place the satellite was showing Claire’s whereabouts. But he didn’t see anything but a desert highway. It was getting colder outside and it seemed that the rain would start any minute. Leon got out from his sporty Mercedes, looked around once again, but there was still not a single trace of Claire and her vehicle. He tried to imagine where she could be and a bright idea crossed his brilliant mind. It could be possible that Claire had pulled of the road. He found fresh tracks on the asphalt and noted that they belonged to a motorbike. Kennedy followed in the tracks until he found who he was searching for. Claire was lying on the cold grass not far from her beloved motorbike. She was dressed too light for October’s weather. Leon bent down and traced a line down her cheek with his fingers. Her skin was as cold as ice. The young man got scared for her wellbeing. She could catch a cold or get pneumonia if she stayed lying like that. He decided not to wake her up but take her to his car and warm her frozen body.  

Leon took her almost weightless body in his arms and carried her to his parked car. Her head was lying on his shoulder while her forehead was pressing to his neck. He could clearly feel her warm breath on his skin and it made him shiver in delight. Kennedy brushed his possessive thoughts away and pressed the girl’s body tighter to his chest. Her safety was more important than his pleasant sensations right now.         

The rain started to pour like it hadn’t done it in years. Millions of cold and fat droplets of water fell on young people from above, making Claire stir in her sleep and open her eyes. It took her some moments before she realized that she was in Leon’s arms. Judging by her confused impression she didn’t expect to see him.

Leon kept his poker face in place and kept on carrying her back to the highway, where his car was waiting.

“Let me go!” she announced proudly in a low voice.

“I don’t have it in my plans,” Kennedy answered quietly. “You are freezing and you have to get warm.”

“It’s none of your concern,” she narrowed her eyes angrily and started to tear herself from his embrace.

Leon put her down beside his car. She turned on her heels furiously and was about to go to her motorbike but he didn’t let her do it. Leon caught her wrist with a sonic speed, pulled her to him jerkily and crushed his lips on her slightly opened mouth in a fierce and passionate kiss. Claire didn’t get a chance to react or even understand how her back had been already pressed down against a hot hood of the car.  Leon leaned all his weight upon her body, never giving her any chance to break free. He grasped both her hands and pinned them above her head with his left hand, while his right one was holding her chin so that she wouldn’t shake her head.

Claire tried to kick him with her legs, but he was smart enough to stand beside her while doing his dirty tricks. The more she struggled for her freedom, the more passionate and wild his kiss was getting. Never in her whole life did someone dare to kiss her like that! She didn’t even know that such kind of a kiss existed in the world. She had had some kisses in her experience, but all of them were clumsy and false.

But to her great horror her body started to answer that bestial kiss, forgetting that her partner was the man who had hurt her with his accusations not so long ago. Suddenly her mind showed her an image of Ada Wong kissing Leon. It pained Claire even harder than those words he told her that evening. Maybe he kissed that spy the very same way he was kissing her right now. She didn’t want to be just another random lover to him.

Claire fell in love with him from their first encounter in Racoon City. But she knew that he didn’t love her and there was nothing to expect from him. Lots of men wanted to drag her in their beds, but she had always turned down their perverted offers because she didn’t love any of those men. She was sure that they didn’t feel anything similar to those light and wonderful feelings towards her either.

She wasn’t just a doll for fun, and she wouldn’t let anyone use her to fulfill their barbarian needs and desires. So she summoned all her common sense and bit Leon’s tongue when he wanted to deepen his forceful kiss. It was hard to break the kiss, the very kiss she was dreaming about, but right now she didn’t want it. She was angry with him and he was just making fun of her by taking advantage of her.

Leon yelped from an unexpected pain in his tongue and tore his mouth away from hers, throwing a disapproval gaze at the girl.

“Let me go!” she cried in his face breathing hard due to the lack of oxygen. “Are you nuts? How I suppose to get it?” Claire thought that she would manage to escape his tight grip by biting him at the most suitable moment, but she failed. He was too strong, too dominant to break free, and his hold didn’t get any weaker after her unforeseen attack.

“I am not crazy, Claire. And I won’t let you go neither this time not any other,” he said powerfully, tightening his grasp on her chin, so that she would look straight into his eyes. “It’s time to cut the slack down, dear”.

“I don’t want to hear you, Leon. It won’t change anything. You have already told me everything you think of me. So, let me go or I’ll scream”. She tried to struggle. Oh, Heavens, she tried hard to free her wrists from his iron grip, but why did he have to be so persistent and strong? She had never imagined that her own body would lose to his as she had always thought that she was strong enough to stand against any man. But, it seemed, that Leon Kennedy wasn’t just any other man. He had some power over her and he knew it. Yet she refused to give up so easily.

“Yeah? Okay, you may start. I will gladly listen to your screaming, but remember that there is no one around to help you. So what are you going to do: let me explain everything or just waste your voice for nothing?” Leon demanded, looking straight into her eyes. Her face was flushed, her gaze was shooting lightning, while rage could be clearly noticed in her mirrors of soul, but he didn’t fear. After all, he was a super governmental agent and he faced lots of situations which were a lot more dangerous than her death glare.

She didn’t say anything just clenched her teeth in anger and sent him the most disgustful gaze she could master.

“So you chose the first variant,” Leon uttered as a matter of fact. “Very well. Now you’re going to listen to my every word and I won’t let go off you until I finish what I am going to say.”

He received her constrained hiss in response.

“I’m here to take back what’s mine,” Kennedy held his gaze on her firmly, but she just smirked in return and said:

“Then take your stupid car and get lost from my sight, rookie!”

Her words stung him to the quick, but he fully comprehended that it was her offence speaking, not Claire. And he was the one who caused that offence to rise in her heart. 

“Just hush and keep it up now,” determination could be clearly heard in his voice, as he tightened his grip on her wrists. “I have never been as serious as I am now in my whole life!”

 

Claire got silent. For a moment, she regretted that she had said those words. He was indeed serious, even _she_ had never seen him so concentrated and tensed as he was now.

Leon took a deep breath before he started:

“I saw the light in your eyes when we first met back in Racoon City. And even if the situation we faced that night didn’t give me time to think properly, deep inside I knew that you were one of a kind. I made a mistake by letting you go all alone. It was the worst mistake in my life and even now I keep scolding myself for losing you there. I lost you, Claire. And it’s my entire fault that I still keep losing you every time we meet. Today is just like another case. I saw you among those politicians. They were so hungry for your company while you were shining like a diamond around their dull figures. I do admit, it made me jealous!” his voice raised and he gritted his teeth, as he pressed his body tighter to her soft chest. “And I am still jealous because I know that every man is dreaming to possess you! Even my best friend! He has told me today about the way he sees you. I couldn’t take it anymore. Every male dares to look at you as if you are some toy for fun! But I don’t think the same way as the others! I am not one of them, because I know you, Claire. From the very first time we met, I still can’t get you out of my mind. You came to me from all four sides at the same time. Unexpectedly and inevitably you entered my life, my mind and then spread down my veins. So, when I see anyone who has that hunger in their eyes when they look at you, all I want is to punch that person and tell him to keep his hands and all his dirty fantasies to himself!”

Leon fell silent for a moment. He was searching the answer in her eyes. What was she thinking right now? Did she believe his declarations? Or maybe she was listening to him only to win her lost freedom back? To his terror, Leon noticed that his fingers bore into her soft skin like claws of some wild animal. He loosened his grip on her wrists and shifted his hands to her shoulders, cursing himself for hurting the dearest person to his heart. He just wanted her to believe him so badly, that he didn’t even realize that he gripped her fragile body like the last straw.

She didn’t say anything to his great disappointment, but also he didn’t notice those negative emotions towards him she had in her eyes before. She didn’t start her struggling again either. So, maybe she was giving him the last chance?

“I beg you, Claire. Forgive me for what I’ve said at the party. It’s not your fault that all men admire you. It’s me who is to blame for not protecting you from them. I was blinded with jealousy and couldn’t think straight. I realized that I offended you deeply only after you left. I am so sorry for making you hear those harsh words. I wasn’t myself back then.”   

“You were acting as if I were your wife who tried to deceive you,” finally her voice broke through, making him tense. Claire was looking at him calmly yet firmly. There was no offence in her beautiful eyes, but he didn’t see any signs of warmth in them either. “And you know that I am not,” she concluded in a stern voice. “You didn’t have any right to judge me, Leon”.

“I agree. I’m guilty towards you and I’m the only one to blame for not telling you about how I feel earlier.”

He looked at her apologetically; his grip loosened on her shoulders as he shifted his arms to circle them around her body in a tender embrace. The girl let him put her in a standing position again.

“I love you, Claire. There is no need to keep it a secret from you anymore. I made a lot of mistakes in my life and yet I kept on living, but losing you is equivalent to death. All I regret is that it took too much time for me to realize that my life has no meaning if there are no you by my side”.

“So what are you going to do now, Leon Scott Kennedy? Did you think that finding out about your hidden feelings I would jump in happiness? You said right that it took too much time for you to open your secrets”.

If only someone could know how hard it was to tell him those words. His sudden confession made her dizzy, she felt like she was suffocating from a whirlpool of emotions that shot up in her stomach. After all, she had been longing to hear his confession for a very long time, but she had never imagined that this day would ever come or he would tell her about his feelings after they had a fight. It wasn’t in her scenario of a perfect love story.

“I can’t dare to think that you will return my feelings. Even if you don’t forgive me, I want you to know that you are too precious to me and I can’t let myself lose you again. I caused too much pain to you with my indifference and I still can’t understand why I was such a fool. You have all rights to slap me, kick me or beat me up to death for what I have done”.

She knew he was sincere with his words. She sensed that he regretted everything he said to her at the party. And his eyes were proving that. There was so much sadness and self-reproach in his stormy-blue eyes, that she felt sorry for making him look that way, even if he was the one who started their quarrel.

“Leon,” she uttered when he shifted his gaze from her face to the side in shame. “There are still lots of things that are left unsaid between us. It’s true that your words hurt me like a knife stabbed in my heart back then, but even after what you have said, I couldn’t bring myself to hate you.”

After hearing that, the young man lifted his head to look at the woman he loved. Her face held a sorrowful expression, and he was ready to sacrifice his life in order to bring a shiny smile to her face again. The very smile he saw on her lips at the party and the very smile he wiped away from them with his unfounded accusations.   

“I love you too, Leon. All those years I’ve been loving you and even now, after everything you said at the party in the White House, I can’t order myself to stop loving you”.

Her words broke out a revolution in his heart and mind. Claire, his dear Claire had just returned his feelings! But why did she look so sad and anguished? Could it be that her love for him was one and deep suffering to her? Leon bit his inner cheek when the thought crossed his mind.

Meanwhile, Claire recalled their every encounter and her eyes went downcast from the pain she felt right now.

“But you have never noticed how I felt towards you. You always looked to the other sides, anywhere but me. You had crushes and love affairs. You didn’t want me in your life, so why are telling me that you love me all of a sudden?” she raised her voice and sent him a desperate glare. It was painful to refuse his charms, but she had a pride. She was Redfield and no one who came from Redfield family let anyone play with their feelings! 

“I wanted to protect you!” he demanded.

“From who? From yourself?”

“Yes… and from myself too,” Kennedy murmured and sighed in defeat.

“Then you have to know the truth, Leon. I don’t need any protection,” the girl responded proudly.

They fell silent again. Both young people sighed in union, as they averted their eyes from each other. This conversation didn’t bring them to a solution at all. Only now a corner of their minds noticed that the rain hadn’t stopped, on the contrary, it gained more power and now it was giving its all to that stubborn couple, that couldn’t find answers to their questions. All soaked to the bone, they were going to have another fight, but for some reason the man didn’t let the woman go from his embrace. The rain couldn’t understand why they were still hugging. Any other normal people would have rushed to find a shelter to hide from the cold droplets, but those two were not normal in the rain’s opinion, so it decided to shower them with its mighty flood even more. After all, it got tired of being the only witness of the drama scene.

But the heroes of the occasion didn’t notice the rain’s efforts at all. Their thoughts were too far away from thinking about nature.

After some minutes of silence, Claire spoke, turning her head to face Leon.

“Answer one question,” she said firmly, looking deep in his eyes to build a connection between their souls. There was no turning back. There was no time for teasing and playing around anymore. She had to know the truth.

Claire lifted her hand and pressed her palm to his chest where his heart was beating. Surprise could be seen in Leon’s eyes, but he didn’t break the connection.

“Are you ready to give up on other women for the sake of me?”

To her great bewilderment he covered her fragile hand with his palm and pressed it even harder to his heart. He answered right away, without a moment's hesitation.

“I swear that no other woman will stand in the way of our feelings. I am ready to carry my love for you through my life and die with your name on my lips. You are the only one I love, Claire, and you have always been. I beg to believe my words and I will prove you the sincerity of my feelings”.

His heart beat steady yet strongly under their joined hands. He didn’t lie to her, it was obvious. His heart was proving that. Claire knew that if she let him come into her world, her life would never be the same again, but she was ready to face the changes. She loved him and the painful quarrel helped them both to realize that their love wasn’t an unrequited one.  

“There is no meaning in this life but love. In my case, it’s the love for you, Claire Redfield”.

His frank confession forced a swirl of butterflies to fly in her stomach. Claire felt a hasty dizziness and staggered. Leon’s reaction was on the top. He lifted her body in his arms and realized suddenly that it was freezing cold and the rain was pouring them as if they were some kind of dry flowers. Concerned about Claire’s health, Leon was about to sit her in his car, when his lips were covered with hers unexpectedly. He froze to the spot. She didn’t kiss him like he did some hours ago, or maybe minutes. He didn’t really know how long they had been ascertained their relationship, but he knew that her kiss was magical, innocent, sweet and it made his head spin in delight. It was so different to that hungry, passionate and forceful kiss he gave her earlier. Claire was the only woman that managed to disarm him from his imaginable armour and get to his real self. She deserved much better than him, Leon noted mentally, but he had no strength to let her go. That was why he swore to himself to do anything to make her happy. And he knew what exactly he had to do tonight to prove the seriousness of his intentions about her.

He kissed her back, treasuring every moment of sweetness her lips held. He had never felt that way before, no other woman could make him want to sing just from one innocent kiss. What was he thinking? Those women had never kissed him as innocently as Claire. She was so different, so unique.

“ _One of a kind_ ,” he thought, smiling in her mouth.

Claire broke the kiss softly and averted her eyes in a shy manner. It was cold outside, the rain never gave up on a thought of freezing them to death and making them hydro-men, but Leon could swear that there was a blush on Claire’s pale cheeks.

“I-I believe you and I’m ready to start our love story, but if you ever break my heart, keep in mind that Chris will kill you”.

Was she kidding or was she telling the truth? Leon didn’t care because he knew that he would never make her cry again.

“I will be a wonderful and the best brother-in-law Chris could ever imagine to have!” he took her by the chin and lifted her face so that she could see the seriousness in his eyes, but everything she saw in them was a mischievous glint and a sly smile on his lips.  

She laughed sonorously and smirked, arching her mahogany eyebrow.

“We will wait and see, rookie!”

Leon laughed in response and took his priceless girl into his car, where she could warm up and dry a little. He turned on the heater and with the words “I will call the evacuator to take your bike,” Leon got out of the car and closed the door behind him. Claire was confused. Couldn’t he call in the cabin? Why did he have to go out in the pouring rain again? But her musings were interrupted by his arrival. With a sweet smile on his handsome face he said:

“Let’s go?”

“Let’s go,” was her casual answer, but she never knew where exactly he was taking her.  

Only when they reached the city hall in the centre of Washington Claire felt like asking.

“The hotel where I live is in another district, why did you bring me here?”

Leon didn’t say anything. He got out of the car and helped his lady to do the same by opening the door and offering his hand to her. Claire lay her hand in his after a moment of hesitation and let him walk her in a huge establishment.

They were met by several people Claire had never seen in her life.

“Mr. Kennedy, we understand the urgency of your request, but don’t you think that it’s not normal to register your marriage at 2 in the morning? ”

Clair stiffened after hearing the marriage part. But Leon didn’t show any sign of surprise.

“I am absolutely okay with the time, gentlemen. Thank you for helping me,” and he gifted them with his sparkling trademark smile.

“How could we decline your request after you called us, Mr. Kennedy!”

“Stop it!”

Everyone turned their attention to the owner of that high-pitch voice. Claire was ready to explode from anger.

“Where did you take me, Leon? Whose marriage are they talking about?!” she sent him a furious gaze, squeezing his hand so hard that Leon’s face showed blue stripes.

“We are getting married today, sweetheart. My acquaintances offered their help to register our marriage tonight.”

“But we didn’t even go on our first date! You didn’t give me a wedding ring and you have never asked me to marry you in the first place! Are you crazy or what?” Claire was tired of his tricks, she was ready to leave everything behind and go back to the hotel, but Leon stopped her by pulling her figure to his.

“Actually, I have a ring, Claire. And I have always dreamed to ask you to marry me,” he said quietly, taking his neck-chain out of his shirt and showing her the pendant. The very pendant was a luxury golden ring with a huge pure sapphire in the middle.

Claire gasped in disbelieve. Her palm covered her mouth as she looked how Leon took off the chain and separated the ring from it.

“I bought it last year. When I first saw it, it reminded me of your eyes,” with those words he looked into her beautiful deep-blue mirrors of soul. “I put it on my chain as a talisman that could always make me remember about you.”

Claire eyes went downcast as she realized that Leon indeed loved her. The ring was a sapphire one, not a ruby one. If he had feelings for Ada, he would have definitely bought a ring with the precious stone of her favourite red colour.

“So, Claire Redfield, will you give me an honor to become my legal wife?”

“I…”

It was an awkward situation. She loved Leon and he loved her too but she had never expected her wedding to be like that. She was surrounded by strange men who were smiling like idiots while watching soap-opera scene Leon and her were performing. But…everything in her life always seemed upside down, this marriage event wasn’t an exception. She just prayed that Chris wouldn’t kill them when he found out about their little secret.

With a sigh she laid her fragile hand in Leon’s and let him put the ring on her wedding finger.

“I will marry you,” she said finally, gazing into his eyes that were iridescent with millions of emotions.

A sound of loud applause interrupted their special moment. Someone opened a bottle of champagne with a lout shot. The new-weds signed all the necessary documents, the scrivener confirmed their marriage to be legal and valid, and so they were finally announced to be husband and wife.

The young couple kissed chastely and without wasting any minute of their private time, they headed to Leon’s apartment. During the time they were getting to the place, Claire understood why Leon decided to call the evacuator under a pouring rain. He had just made up his sly plan of making her his wife. Was she happy? She was excited but the upcoming time she would spend with him that night was scaring her. All her dreams concerning his person were coming true with a sonic speed and she wasn’t ready to face all of them in one night! Well, maybe not all of her dreams came true after all, because she had never imagined herself getting married in a soaked wet dress with an awful coiffure on her head. Nor did she think that it would be a secret from her brother. She was afraid to even think about his reaction when he found out about her awkward marriage. But she had to tell him the truth sooner or later.

Meanwhile Leon parked his car and offered Claire his hand, and she knew for sure that there was no turning back anymore. She took his hand and let him lead her to his private ownership.

Leon lifted Claire in his arms and crossed the threshold of his luxury apartment. With one swift motion of his foot he closed the door behind them and carried her to the bedroom.

“Welcome to our bedroom, Mrs. Kennedy,” he whispered in his wife’s ear and then kissed it, putting down his precious woman in a sitting position on his bed. With a smile he let go off her and stepped backwards, to take off his wet tuxedo, shirt and trousers.

Claire tried to calm herself down and concentrate on her emotions towards the man she loved, but when her eyes saw his almost nude body, she swallowed hard. She felt a lack of oxygen in her lungs and her face started to burn in embarrassment. Saying that his body was beautiful it meant saying nothing at all. It was ideal and Claire found herself shivering uncontrollably in realization. Her face got hotter and hotter with every passing second as a telltale blush appeared on her cheeks. And it didn’t go unnoticed by Leon’s eyes. He walked to her and placed his warm hands on her bare shoulders, pushing her gently and making her lie down on a large double bed. Leon sat beside his wife and looked in her surprised eyes. His voice sounded concerned as he asked:

“Why are you shivering, sweetheart? Are you cold? Let me help you to take off that wet dress of yours,” and he was about to fulfill his intentions by laying his hot hands on the cool skin of her shoulders in order to pull down the thin straps of her beautiful evening dress, that became her wedding gown that night, but Claire pushed him away abruptly and leaped back from him to the other side of his king-sized bed. Her actions surprised Leon to no limits. No, it made him fall into a stupor. The young man bent his head to the side quizzically while looking at his suddenly jumpy wife, who was trying to cover her upper-body with her arms by hugging herself. She never dared to look at him at the moment. Her eyes were hidden behind her fringe as she bent down her head in shame.  

“What’s wrong? Usually my bed is the place any woman would give her live away for, but you’re my legal wife and you are the only one who tries to ran away from it,” he didn’t know what to say to her strange behavior and that was why he let those words slip his tongue. But he regretted saying that right away. He promised her that no women would stand in the way of their feelings, and now he was telling her that his bed was once very popular among females, which was not! At the very moment Leon was ready to give everything to take his words back. They were too dirty for Claire’s ears to hear, even if they were half-true.   

“Did I hurt you?” his voice gained the notes of concern and caring as he continued watching his shivering wife from his side of the bed.

Claire felt embarrassed under his piercing gaze. She knew that he was looking at her right now, but she couldn’t fight her timid personality. It took a lot of courage to lift her head and glance at him. He _was_ watching her, yet there was something in his eyes that told her not to fear. Claire shook her head, averting her eyes from him again.

“You are always running away from me, Claire,” Leon pointed out with a tired sigh, but the next moment he crawled towards her and appeared beside her. He brushed some strands away from her face in order to look in her eyes. “But this time I will not let you leave my side”.

Claire looked up at him hesitantly and caught his gentle gaze.

“Did I scare you?”

“No, you didn’t,” she spoke finally. Her sweet voiced eased the tensed atmosphere in the room. “It’s just…my body has never had any experience in such things and now it started to react strongly to you. The proximity of your body embarrasses me,” Claire answered honestly and swallowed hard as her eyes caught a glimpse of his naked torso.

“Wait a minute…” Leon’s eyes widened in disbelieve while his arms fell limply at his lap. “Do you want to say that you are,” he thought for a moment to find the right word, “…innocent?”

Claire shut her eyes. She felt really constrained, but she found some courage to nod in a sign of consent while blushing even more.

Leon lost his gift of speech. He didn’t expect to hear such news from her. What was he talking about? He had never dared to even dream about being the first man in her life! His head stared spinning in excitement and disbelieve.

“ _I will be her fist one!”_ the phrase kept playing in his mind on and on, until he stopped it abruptly, realizing one important thing. “ _But I will do anything to be her only one_.”

Leon took her hand and kissed it agitatedly. He wanted to throw the whole world to her feet! She was a gift from Heaven to him. His heart overfilled with love and tenderness towards the mahogany-haired beauty. She was so fragile and vulnerable yet brave and strong-spirited at the same time. He _longed_ to become her loyal knight and protect her from any harm, because she was the only woman in the whole world he wanted to share his life with. And he dreamed that she would give birth to his children.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Soon your body will get used to mine. Just don’t be scared of me. I will be very gentle and we will overcome all your anxieties together. We were made to love each other and we have the whole life ahead, my love.” He smiled to her sincerely and handsomely while lifting his hand to caress her silky cheek.

His words and tender touches soothed her and Claire felt that her shivering started to go away.

“I am not scared of you, Leon. It’s just I feel awkward since I don’t have any experience and my eyes are not used to see nude men, even if they have their boxers on,” the girl answered, smiling lightly and innocently. And he felt like he was killed with her smile, so beautiful and sincere.

Leon gulped uneasy. She was driving him crazy with her modesty. She was something beyond his understanding. Claire was like a divine maiden that he was going to make his and no one else’s, and that was why he felt himself awkward too. On one hand, he longed to be become one with her right away, but on the other hand, he understood that he would be the one who would rob her of that purity. And the latter didn’t make him oh so happy, because he started to envy himself. Right now he felt pathetic for having those thoughts.

“We…” he started and realized that his throat got dry due to thinking too much. Oh dear, why couldn’t he be himself? It wasn’t like him at all! And her shy gaze didn’t help him much.

Leon slapped himself mentally for the first time in his life.

 _“Be a man, rookie! Get a grip of yourself_!” he shouted in his mind, not even noticing calling himself a ‘rookie’. Did he ever mention that he hated that word?

Her sapphire eyes were looking at him. There were light in them and he longed to drown in that light and never face any darkness again. Somehow, the words formed on his tongue themselves, and he said, never stopping gazing in her mirrors of soul.

“There is no rush. We will learn each other slowly tonight and everything will be fine. Our love will help us to overcome everything. I am sure,” Leon promised, shifting on a mattress to sit closer to his priceless wife. He circled his arms around her and kissed her rosy lips tenderly. His fingers found a zip of her dress and started to pull it down, when Claire gasped and broke the kiss, throwing a confused gaze at him.

“You are so cold, Claire. I am worried about your health. I want to take off this wet dress and warm you in my arms,” Leon explained calmly, trying to win her trust. Her face softened as she nodded unsurely.

“If I get sick, will you take care of me?” she asked playfully and he was glad that she started to come out of her numbness and becoming her real self again.

“Of course, but I won’t let you get sick tonight,” he answered, bending his face to hers and capturing her lips in a sensual kiss once again.  

Clair answered his magical kiss, not even realizing that he had already taken off her dress and laid her on the soft sheets of the bed.

The dim light of the night lamp illuminated her ivory skin. Leon towered himself above her figure on his outstretched arms and looked at her almost nude body. Only her underwear of dove-white colour was hiding the most interesting parts from his sight. But even with those lacy bra and panties on, she looked indescribably stunning. Her legs were long and fine, her hips slender, her carriage erect.

“So beautiful and still innocent,” he breathed his thoughts out loud. His eyes got darker from the view before him and now they looked like a bottomless sea on a stormy night.

Claire wanted to cover herself, but she decided not to do it. She let him look at her, and to her own surprise she caught herself on a thought that she didn’t really mind if he saw her without clothes. She had never let any other man stare at her nude figure, but she couldn’t fight Leon’s charms. His gaze caressed her without even touching her skin physically.

“I have never let anyone touch me before, because I have always believed that a woman must give herself only to the man she loves,” Claire’s melodic voice echoed in his mind as he continued admiring every curve of her body. “I didn’t love anyone in my life but you, Leon. But you didn’t pay any attention to me, so I started to wait for a man who would kill this painful love that my heart kept for you.”

“I will never let that love die in your heart, Claire,” he uttered and placed a warm gaze on her face, putting his hand under her head and placing it on her nape. Her still wet hair felt soft and silky against his fingers and he caught himself on a thought that he really enjoyed stroking her luxury hair. But right now all his attention was drawn to her forbidden perfect lips that he wanted to claim with a kiss.

“I believe you,” the girl said frankly and then she added in a teasing tone “but still keep in mind that I have a very overprotective brother, who-”

But she had no chance to finish her sentence as Leon landed a dominant yet tender kiss on her heavenly lips, making her forget about everything in this world.   

He was like a shooting star to her. Everything gained brightness in her eyes as he continued kissing her. For the first time in many years Claire felt alive. She felt that way only when he held and kissed her like that. She knew that this night would be their very special one. It would make them a single whole, but she wasn’t afraid. She entrusted herself to Leon, because he was the only man she had ever loved in her life and she was happy to give herself to him.   

“Leon,” she whispered between his breathtaking kisses, digging her fingers in his slightly wet thick hair. But that whisper sounded like an inviting moan to him. He couldn’t explain the shivers he got when she cold his name like that. It painted rainbows in his soul. It made him breathless. Claire was everything good in his life and he still couldn’t believe that very soon she would be his. He believed that she had walked out of one of his sweetest dreams. She was so beautiful tonight and it made his heart beat twice faster. The thing that he felt towards her was even stronger than love. It was beyond any explanations. He only hoped that someday he would deserve everything she gave him. Because right now, he wasn’t worthy of her, but still she decided to give him a chance.

Her every breath was filled with blissful dulcet tones, which sounded like a melody to Leon’s ears. She was sparkling in his arms, and he felt like he started to shine himself when he was with her. That special connection between them couldn’t be explained by science, but right now they shone like diamonds in the sky, blinding anyone who would dare to look at them.   

That night Leon took everything in his hands, he showed his wonderful wife all the depth of his feelings. He loved her with his heart and soul, showering her velvet skin with tender, sensual kisses.

And soon they became one, dissolving in each other slowly after reaching the sweetest harmony of their bodies and souls. When their eyes locked again, Leon drowned in her sparkling sapphire eyes, which were showing him everything the words couldn’t tell and describe. She had changed his life that night and she was the only woman who had such power over him. He treasured every moment they shared during their special and long awaited night of love. He was like a musician playing her strings so skillfully, so magically. She had never felt so many emotions running through her body and soul before.

And now she was sleeping, resting her head on his chest. But he couldn’t fall asleep from happiness. He decided to guard her peaceful slumber, that was given to her by those stars in the night sky, which they had been reaching countless times during their wedding night. Of course Claire was exhausted. It was her first time after all, but Leon had a strong determination to become a better man to her, someone who would be worthy of her. He touched her mahogany hair lovingly and got a sweet sigh from her lips in response. A blissful smile spread on his lips. He was thankful to Heavens, that she came into his life and became his. Every beat of her heart next to his was reminding him that he wasn’t alone anymore. She was like a sun ray that shone not only in daylights but also in the darkest nights, giving all her energy to warm those who were cold and lost.

He was grateful to her for showing and teaching him what love truly was. He had never thought that the day when they could open their hearts to each other would ever come. But it came and they got married and he never regretted about giving up his freedom and placing it in her hands. Now Claire was the one who held the key to his heart and life. But yet… when he found out that she was pure and untouched, he didn’t think that he would dare to cross the line, because her innocence was so divine. But he did cross that forbidden line, and he hated himself for doing that but at the same time it made him relieved. Claire would be his and only his, and he would never let anyone lie a finger on her or have some dirty fantasies in their perverted minds!

With those possessive thoughts Leon fell asleep holding his wife in his secure embrace.

 

**OooooO**

 

Claire woke up from a sound of her cell-phone ringtone. She opened her eyes, not fully comprehending where she was, and stood up to pick up her deco purse from the floor and take out her cell-phone.

It was Jill calling. Claire pushed the green button to answer, but the moment she pressed the tube to her ear, she got a heart attack from what she heard.

“Claire! Where are you? Your brother is already here and he is ready to break several necks if you don’t show up in a minute!”

Claire’s hands got cold. She was really afraid of what was going to happen if Chris found out about her whereabouts.

“Jill, please, cover me up. I’ll be there in 30 minutes! And I beg you… try to calm Chris down,” her voice was high because of the thrilling emotions she was feeling right now.

“Did you get into another trouble, Claire?” Jill’s demanding tone didn’t make it any easier for the younger woman, but Claire hurried to soothe her.

“No, everything is fine. I’ll tell you later.”

“I see, you really did get into a trouble,” Jill sighed in the phone and added, “please, hurry up. Chris is foaming with anger.”

“I am on my way!”

And she pushed a disconnect button.

“I’m dead,” the beauty summed up in despair. She turned her head to look at the bed. To her great surprise she was met by a playful gaze of stormy-blue eyes.

Leon put his elbow on a mattress and laid his head on his hand for support. He was enjoying the morning view with admiration.

Claire instinctively looked down at herself and to her great horror she didn’t see any clothes on her body. With a whine of embarrassment she rushed to the bed and pulled off a blanket from Leon’s figure to cover herself from his piercing eyes. But it didn’t help her to fight the trouble, since Leon looked no better than herself. They were absolutely naked and they had slept in one bed.

Claire averted her eyes from him, blushing madly. The room was filled with light and now everything she couldn’t see during the night came into a view.

She pressed the blanket tighter to her chest. She still didn’t get used to a fact that she was a married woman and seeing her naked husband in the morning was nothing to be ashamed of. It was normal, but she couldn’t fully comprehend it.

Her musings were interrupted by Leon’s touch. He reached out to take her hand and pulled her down back on the bed, making her lie beneath him.

“Nothing can stop me from longing to be with you, Claire,” he whispered in her ear as he bent down to kiss her velvet shoulder. “You can’t imagine what you have done to me. We are partners by our bodies and souls,” those words were burning out on her skin, making her gulping for air. “Listen to what I want to say. I am sure you know it already, but I can’t keep silent.” Leon lifted his head and looked deep in her clouded with desire eyes. “I love you and I can’t imagine my life without you. I want to tell you that I love you every time you wake up. You are the only one for me and you are the only woman that can make me smile and be myself.”

With those words the young man placed a tender kiss on her chest, where her heart was beating. She wrapped his head with her arms and pressed it even closer to her chest. She felt so warm and happy being with him and listening to his declarations of love.

“I will always stand by your side, Leon, through good and through trying times,” she breathed out, closing her eyes and concentrating on those magical feelings her heart felt right now. “You filled me with love and made me a woman that can reach the sky. I feel alive in your arms and I have never felt happier in my whole life before”.

It was hard to break their special moment. They felt so in harmony, but the reality wasn’t that optimistic.

45 minutes later they arrived at the hotel, where Chris met them with a scowl on his face.

“Claire, where have you been? We have an urgent meeting and you are dressed like that!”

Redfield was shocked to see his sister in a beautiful and elegant evening dress, that didn’t match the time of the day. And due to that shock he didn’t even notice that Claire wasn’t alone.

“Never mind, we have to go right now! Maybe it’s better that you wear it,” with those words Chris led his family to his Hammer and sat at the driver’s seat.

“Would you be so kind and tell us where are we going, sweetheart?” It was Jill, who decided to ease a tensed atmosphere in the cabin.

“We have to meet an important guest. He came from England specially to see Claire.”

Chris was glad that this conversation had already started. He wasn’t sure he could start it himself, but Jill was on the top. She always helped him in difficult situations.

Claire had some bad premonition. She knew that her brother was up to something or else why didn’t he notice Leon’s presence at the hotel and now in the car in the first place?

“And what does he want from me?” Clare asked indifferently from the back seat.

“He has been begging me to give my permission to propose to you for a whole month, Claire. But I told him that you need to think.” Chris answered, stopping at the red light and glancing in the rear-view mirror.

  
“And what did I decide then?” Claire was getting angry with every second. She was fed up with her brother’s efforts to improve her personal life. “I’ve been thinking for a whole month after all!”

The car started off again. Redfield focused his sight on a road and answered.

“You decided to meet him today and have a dinner, where he proposes to you and you say ‘yes’.”

“What?!?” the three voices, including some male’s one, exclaimed in union, not believing to what Chris had just said.

“And this time you _will_ say ‘yes’, Claire Redfield,” the older man said sternly. “I am tired of searching a good match for you. You have declined 10 offers of marriage just in one year. All of them were wealthy and respectful gentlemen. America has run out of decent men, so I decided to start searching in Europe. And I have found a man who is madly in love with you.”

Claire didn’t want to hear that nonsense anymore. She threw her nape on a headrest and fisted her hands.

“If you are referring to the person I think about, then you should know that he became interested in me only after I turned him down. And besides, Chris, he 45!”

“Mr. James Bond will be a perfect match for you, Claire. Stop act like a spoiled girl and listen to what elders say.”

Leon was struggling with his emotions. He clenched his teeth and balled his hand in a fist. He knew who that famous Mr. Bond was and the idea of him proposing to Claire made his blood boil.  Kennedy opened his mouth to beat a piece of mind in Chris’s head for forcing his sister to marry some old fart, when Jill’s voice joined the conversation. And her tone wasn’t friendly at all.

“Chris Redfield, I think you are forgetting yourself! At first we thought that it was just your hobby, but it seems that you got obsessed with the idea of giving Claire away in marriage! She is old enough to chose who she wants to spend her life with!”

But Chris was a real die-hard to that. He wasn’t ready to give up.

“The one she has always wanted to be with is a jerk, who has never thought of her feeling! He has always wiped his feet against her heart. You think I don’t know about your hidden feelings to that rookie, Claire?” Chris glanced in the rear-view mirror again, sending her a sever gaze.

Claire bit her tongue and threw a quick glance at Leon, who was sitting next to her with his poker-face on. What was he thinking right now? Maybe he was making up a plan to divorce her and her crazy brother?

She couldn’t even suppose that the very poker-face was a just a mask, behind which Leon was having a self-reproach. He knew that he caused lots of pain to Claire, but he had never thought that her brother would have a very keen insight. Chris was trying hard to find her a decent match in order to make her forget about the love she held in her heart. He was indeed a very good and overprotective brother, but he had miscalculated.

“ _She is mine_ ,” Leon narrowed his eyes possessively, his voice low and warning in his thoughts.    

“I swore to our parents that I will take care of you, Claire,” Chris continued, “and I am trying my best to fulfill my promise. You have to listen to me, because I am like a father to you who wants his daughter to be secure and happy.”

“By the way, Chris,” Jill said as matter of fact, “you are going to be a father in 8 months”.

The car stopped abruptly as Chris pressed the breaks hard until the pedal hit the floor of the car. Claire flew forward from a sudden jolt and was about to hit her head against the front passenger seat, but Leon’s strong arms caught her just in time to prevent her from getting hurt. He sat her at his lap and pressed her slim body to his, holding  her like his precious property.

“Chris Redfield!” Jill shouted in anger, throwing a burning gaze at her husband. “Get out of the driver’s seat or I will strangle you with my bare hands! You could have killed us!”

Chris turned his head slowly to face the temperate woman and looked at her in disbelieve. His jaw was slightly opened.

“Is…is that true?” he asked calmly, searching for the answer in her raging eyes.

“Of course I will! Do you want to make sure?” she barked in response.

“No,” he paused for a moment, dropping his gaze on her flat stomach. “…I mean…” Chris shook his head to get a grip of his emotions. “I mean…the baby. Is that true?”

Jill’s gaze softened as she realized what made him look so stricken. She put her palm on his cheek and caressed it with her thumb.

“Yes, it’s true. We are going to be parents.”

Chris lifted his gaze to her face again. The widened pupils of his eyes proved the stupefaction he was in. The man took his wife’s hand in his and kissed its soft skin tenderly. Then he put it back at her lap carefully and got out of the car, closing the door behind him.

A cry of happiness echoed down the busy street as the young father-to-be jumped high with his hands in the air.

Those cries were like music to Jill’s ears. She had never seen her husband so excited and overwhelmed with happiness, but she decided to leave Chris in his lalala-land for a while and concentrate her attention on the couple that sat at the backseat. She turned towards them and said:

“Thank you for your understanding, Leon. If you started to have a debate with Chris about his stupid ideas, we could have been victims of a car accident by now.” She shifted her gaze to Claire and caught a glimpse of her hand. There was something shiny on her finger and Jill placed her gaze on the girl’s wedding finger. A genuine smile showed on the older woman’s lips. “I suppose, that Mr. Bond will get number 11 in your list of declined proposals, dear.”

Claire smiled in return and gave Leon’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“Thank you, Jill. I don’t know what I would have done if I met that James Bond again. He is a terrible womanizer. And he makes me sick”.

“I will never give you to anyone, sweetheart,” Kennedy pressed Clair’s head to his chest and kissed the top of her hair. “It’s your husband’s a word.”

Jill nodded on agreement and then she sent Leon a friendly and knowing smile.

“Welcome to our crazy family, pal.”

All he could do was grinning in acknowledgement.

 

**OooooO**

Of course Chris learned about his sister’s marriage later. He was on the edge of despair when he found out who her husband was. That day he wished Leon in a fit of temper:

“Let you have only daughters, Kennedy, so that you will know what it feels like when your dear child comes and tells you that yesterday she got married to the very guy you tried to protect her from”.

But thanks to Jill’s soothing charms, Chris had finally given his blessing to Claire’s marriage, but there was only one condition.

“I will never acknowledge your secret wedding in that city hall. You have to make a real wedding ceremony in the church, so that I could walk my sister down the aisle and pass her to her legal husband.”

Leon agreed. It wasn’t just a condition he had to satisfy. He supported Chris’s idea with both hands, because Claire deserved to have a real wedding, not that lame but legal one he had offered her the night before. He wanted to see her in a white wedding gown and tell her the vows of love openly in a public.

The month of their wedding was fixed in January, when everything would be covered with white sparkling snow.

And this time nobody had objections to Leon and Claire’s decision.

 

** The end **


End file.
